Hi Guys,
I've finally gone through this entire thread and also have been doing my own research on blockchains and crypto currencies. Trying to learn as much as I can. I think I'm ready to allocate a small portion of my portfolio into them. I will buy a few and hold them for the long term.
There seems to be some confusion on how best to start with purchasing cryptos so I was hoping people can verify if I have the steps down correctly:

1. Signup on Quadriga, Kraken, Bittrex and Coinbase. After getting verified use Quad as it is the easiest for Canadians to purchase the main cryptos. Keep the other sites as backup.
2. Signup for a Tangerine bank account to send funds Quadriga account
3. E-transfer from Tangerine account to Quad
4. Purchase BTC, ETH and other cryptos on Quad
5. Transfer your crypto off Quad to keep it safe. Use an online wallet to start like Exodus or MyEther. Use a Ledger Nano S to store your crypto offline once you have a decent amount.
6. You can send your cryptos to Bittrex to exchange them for other lesser known currencies?
7. HODL

Looking for feedback if I'm in the right ballpark and what things should be added/removed or can be improved. Thx

You can do all your transactions using Quadriga, Coinbase and Bitfinex. For various reasons I'm not a fan of bittrex (less secure than bitfinex and speaking from first hand experience it does have some support issues).
At the very minimum make sure you enable 2FA on the exchanges.
I didn't think Tangerine was supported on Quadriga(?)
Transfer directly from Quadriga to Bitfinex for buying altcoins (no need to go to the wallet first) - then from Bitfinex to your wallet

Your on the right track, start small to get used to the process. You want to get to a point where your thinking more about which crypto to buy/sell and less so about how to do it.

Hi Guys,
I've finally gone through this entire thread and also have been doing my own research on blockchains and crypto currencies. Trying to learn as much as I can. I think I'm ready to allocate a small portion of my portfolio into them. I will buy a few and hold them for the long term.
There seems to be some confusion on how best to start with purchasing cryptos so I was hoping people can verify if I have the steps down correctly:

1. Signup on Quadriga, Kraken, Bittrex and Coinbase. After getting verified use Quad as it is the easiest for Canadians to purchase the main cryptos. Keep the other sites as backup.
2. Signup for a Tangerine bank account to send funds Quadriga account
3. E-transfer from Tangerine account to Quad
4. Purchase BTC, ETH and other cryptos on Quad
5. Transfer your crypto off Quad to keep it safe. Use an online wallet to start like Exodus or MyEther. Use a Ledger Nano S to store your crypto offline once you have a decent amount.
6. You can send your cryptos to Bittrex to exchange them for other lesser known currencies?
7. HODL

Looking for feedback if I'm in the right ballpark and what things should be added/removed or can be improved. Thx

Sums it up. I would include Bitfinex and Binance on top of Bittrex (cheaper fees but not as vast of a cryptocurrency selection).

And while QCX is definitely the way to go for CAD/BTC, depending on the amount you plan to deposit, you'd be able to trade Fiat for BTC a lot cheaper using USD exchanges. There are times when QCX arbitrage goes up to $200 CAD over BTC market price (especially during fast movements), in addition to deposit fees (1.5-2.5%), and high trading fees (0.5%, or 0.2% if trading ETH/BTC).

How can cryptocurrencies become a legitimate "mainstream" asset with the security risk so high? It seems like without proper offline wallets it is very easily hacked. There is no peace of mind with leaving your currency online.

Is it safe verify your accounts on these exchanges?
I'd rather not have my id floating around and having a equifax scenario happen to any of these exchanges where all customer info is in the wild.
Screw that!